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Azeri-Armenian truce broken as 2 more killed
Two ethnic Armenian troops died in fighting with Azerbaijani forces April 8 as the foes accused each other of breaching a cease-fire that halted the worst outbreak of violence in decades over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.The latest clashes are the first serious violation of a Moscow-mediated cease-fire which took effect on April 5, ending several days of fighting over the Karabakh region that claimed at least 90 lives. The unrest has sparked concern of a wider conflict in the strategic area that could drag in regional powers Russia and Turkey. “Azerbaijan violated a cease-fire overnight” using mortars to shell ethnic Armenian rebel positions in Karabakh, the territory’s Defense Ministry said in a statement, adding that two soldiers were killed. Armenia accused Azerbaijan of shelling both military and civilian targets on the border. “The Armenian villages of Karmir, Ttudjur, and Baganis came under Azerbaijani fire,” ministry spokesman Artsrun Hovhannisyan said in a statement. Azerbaijan, a mostly Muslim former Soviet republic, said it returned fire after Armenian forces shelled its positions in Karabakh. “Azerbaijani armed forces responded to Armenian artillery strikes,” Defense Ministry spokesman Vagif Dargahly said. “Civilian targets [in Azerbaijan] were also shelled by the Armenian forces.” Later in the day, Azerbaijan and Armenian-backed separatists said they had struck a temporary deal to allow each side to safely search for the bodies of their soldiers killed in clashes over Nagorno-Karabakh. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev was in Baku on April 8 to hold talks with İlham Aliyev, the Azerbaijani president, aimed at resuming diplomatic efforts to resolve the territorial dispute. “Russia, no less than Azerbaijan and Armenia, has an interest in there being peace in this region, our region,” Medvedev said. “The cease-fire agreement is the foundation for unfreezing talks between Baku and Yerevan.” Posted by: Steve White 2016-04-09 |
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